[Shenzhen, China, April 13, 2021] The Intelligent OptiX Accelerating Gigabit Optical Network Construction summit — part of Huawei Analyst Summit 2021 — was held on April 13 in Shenzhen, China. Notable industry experts and representatives were invited to discuss methods of accelerating gigabit optical network construction and enriching application scenarios.
Summit Site
As the carriers of fixed communication networks, gigabit optical networks serve as the foundation for next generation network infrastructures such as 5G, data centers, and the Internet of Things (IoT). As such, China's 14th Five-Year Plan, Vision for 2035, and Government Work Report 2021 all mention the acceleration of gigabit optical network construction. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China has also released an Action Plan for Collaborative Development of Dual-Gigabit Networks (2021–2023), which specifies the construction standards and development direction of broadband networks in China. At the summit, guests from China Telecom (Guangxi), China Unicom (Shandong), the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT), and Nanshan Union Hospital Shenzhen delivered keynote speeches focusing on their respective fields.
China Telecom (Guangxi) began constructing gigabit optical networks as early as 2009. Adhering to a concept of "roads awaiting vehicles, rather than vehicles awaiting roads," China Telecom (Guangxi) has taken the lead in terms of network infrastructure construction in China. To date, China Telecom (Guangxi) has deployed more than 8 million 10G Passive Optical Network (PON) ports and acquired over 1.28 million gigabit users, ranking first in China on both counts. In addition, the company has extended gigabit coverage to all county areas, fiber coverage to all administrative villages, and Optical Transport Network (OTN) coverage to all cities, counties, and towns.
At the summit, Ye Songhua, General Manager of China Telecom (Guangxi), said: "We will continuously empower various industries such as digital government, digital economy, digital society, and digital countryside based on gigabit optical network infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet, big data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)."
Ye Songhua emphasized: "As a telecom operator, our mission is to provide highly available network services for all of society, which can satisfy customized requirements at a reasonable price anytime and anywhere, and which feature high bandwidth, low latency, and ubiquitous connections. For this purpose, we must build competitive networks capable of benefiting society in the long term. "
Over the next three years, China Telecom (Guangxi) plans to build 14 gigabit cities, while also strengthening the collaborative development of gigabit optical networks and 5G.
Since China first started its New Infrastructure Initiative, the dual-gigabit network infrastructure based on 5G and gigabit optical networks has played a key role in digital transformation across various fields. In this regard, Shandong Province has proposed to accelerate the construction of integrated wireless and wired information networks and acquire new momentum for economic growth, with 5G as the wireless network and gigabit optical network as the wired.
Li Zhuangzhi, Technical Director of the Network Department of China Unicom (Shandong), said: "We started replacing Multi-Service Transmission Platform (MSTP) equipment with more advanced OTN devices since 2016 to improve private line coverage and capabilities. In 2018, we initiated the OTN integration pilot project to continuously optimize private line latency. In 2019, we introduced Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to further improve private line capabilities. This year, China Unicom (Shandong) will comprehensively promote provincial and local integration, cloud-optical synergy, and private line solutions to meet the requirements of industries such as government, finance, healthcare, and manufacturing. In this way, we aim to provide customers with efficient, reliable, intelligent, and enriching private line services, driving fresh economic growth for Shandong Province."
CUBE-NET3.0, which China Unicom released in March 2021 as the top-level architecture for its network transformation over the next five to 10 years, features an all-optical network as the core capability of its network architecture. Li Zhuangzhi said, "China Unicom (Shandong) will leverage the CUBE-Net3.0 architecture to achieve in-depth and quality cloud-network integration through cloud-optical and computing-networking synergy.
The construction of gigabit optical networks in China is currently in the ramping-up stage. The years 2021 to 2023 will see large scale network construction, with both 10G PON and OTN digital foundation deployment gaining traction in an effort to meet future requirements.
Zhang Haiyi, Deputy Director of the CAICT Technology and Standards Research Institute, pointed out: "Various industries are migrating their services to the cloud, and private lines are being upgraded to cloud and optical integration solutions, introducing more industry application scenarios for gigabit optical networks. In the future, OTN premium private lines will be extended to a wider range of buildings and campuses, and super OTN uplink will be applied to an even greater number of home service scenarios. The entire industry chain should jointly explore the application scenarios of Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) OTN, so that high-quality and differentiated applications can benefit various industries and consumers at large."
After building gigabit all-optical networks, exploration of innovative application scenarios is required, to achieve an upward spiral of construction and application. Zhu Suisong, Director of the Network Technology Department of Nanshan Union Hospital Shenzhen, shared innovative applications of all-optical networks in the smart healthcare field.
Zhu said: "Since the all-optical campus network was deployed at our hospital, it has been running stably and reliably. We can access the medical imaging system in less than a second, compared to the previous network which required 20 seconds for access. Meanwhile, the all-optical network connects our hospital with 89 community clinics and five general hospitals, facilitating the sharing and referral of medical records, efficient digital office, and an improved healthcare experience."
Countries around the world have recognized the economic and social benefits of gigabit optical networks, and the construction of such networks is now regarded as a core strategy. In China, gigabit networks will cover over 400 million homes and 100 cities, and the number of gigabit subscribers is set to reach 30 million within the next three years. Outside of China, 159 countries have already released all-optical network construction plans, indicating a massive and truly global market space.
Fiber-based enterprise and home broadband services have become key revenue sources for operators. Taking China Mobile as an example, the company's private line revenue increased by 19% in 2020, which is far higher than the total revenue growth rate. The number of enterprise customers increased by 34%, while cloud revenue tripled. For operators in most countries, the revenue growth rate of home broadband services is generally higher than that of mobile services. Driven by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and emerging services, the growth of the home broadband market is set to continue.
In this context, Huawei has launched its leading Intelligent OptiX solution to help customers build gigabit optical networks capable of delivering premium experience to home and enterprise customers.
Richard Jin, President of Huawei Transmission & Access Product Line, Delivered a Keynote Speech at the Summit
Richard Jin, President of the Huawei Transmission & Access Product Line, said: "All-optical infrastructure networks are essential for various industries seeking rapid digital transformation. In terms of premium home broadband, operators can achieve experience monetization through connection, networking, and scenario-based broadband. In the context of premium private lines, operators can continuously increase revenue by connecting to various industries downward and private clouds upward. In addition, gigabit optical networks offer unique advantages in terms of bandwidth, security, reliability, and anti-interference capabilities, facilitating the digitalization of industries such as education, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and electric power."
Numerous countries have already proposed clear timetables for carbon neutralization. In this regard, optical networks feature low power consumption and energy conservation, and are key to protecting the environment following large-scale deployment. In addition, Huawei is actively exploring further application scenarios for green gigabit optical networks, seeking to reduce energy consumption while ensuring communication quality.
"We plan to focus on the education, environment, healthcare, development, and production fields, and implement at least 100 gigabit optical network application projects over the next five years. While enriching gigabit optical network application scenarios, Huawei continuously builds low-carbon, efficient, and intelligent all-optical networks capable of bridging the digital divide and bringing digital to every person, home, and organization," Richard Jin said.
